Nov 10, 2025 | by Barry Weisleder
The federal Liberal minority government tabled its first budget on November 4. As predicted, it is a war budget, one that steals tens of billions from health, education, public services, and climate action in order to pour it into quadrupling Canadian military spending and buying American weapons systems. By way of comparison, there is $81 billion over 5 years going to the armed forces, and only $13 billion to build affordable housing. The federal budget includes tax cuts for the wealthiest corporations and individuals in the country, increased border militarization and attacks on migrants. It presents ongoing subsidies to new fossil fuel infrastructure, mega pipelines, and large-scale extraction projects, to be erected across Indigenous lands without Indigenous consent.
Clearly, the Mark Carney Liberals have shifted dramatically to the right, incorporating many of the policies of the hard right wing Conservative Party led by Pierre Poilievre. Carney’s agenda is viciously anti-labour. It has virtually terminated the right to strike in the public sector, using Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code to break a number of strikes.
The Liberals are moving rapidly to dismantle Canada Post Corp. on the road to privatization of its vital services. Completely abandoning the rhetoric of environmentalism, on top of weakening contradictory past federal policies, Carney is stepping up efforts to fast-track pipelines that will cause forests to burn longer and more extensively. The government is speeding up the plunder of resources in flagrant violation of Indigenous land rights.
Ottawa is piling injustices upon migrant workers, immigrants and racialized minorities while comforting neo-Nazis and racist scum.
The ruling class is turning decisively towards authoritarianism. In the works are Bubble Zones where free speech, especially pro-Palestinian speech, is banned. Ontario has seized control of large school boards, leaning towards the abolition of elected trustees. Premier Thug Ford is merging dozens of regulatory agencies to cover up more cuts. Public health care and education are on life-support. There’s mega money for war; not so much for housing and affordable food.
Forever wars and brutal genocide mark this ugly period in human history. Shamefully, no party in Parliament calls for a cut to military spending. None demand that Canada exit NATO, the war mongers’ alliance. Among NDP leadership candidates only Yves Engler demands a break with the U.S. war machine. Only Yves says vote to defeat the Liberal budget. Interim NDP leader Don Davies nervously states that the NDP Caucus needs more time to study a document that openly aims to eliminate 40,000 federal public service jobs.
The Alberta Federation of Labour president is talking about the possibility of a provincial general strike in support of teachers whose strike was terminated. Premier Smith used the ‘nuclear option’ — the Notwithstanding clause of the Charter of Rights. Her legislation rules out an appeal of the draconian and illegitimate law. Remember that in November 2022, the mere threat of a general strike in Ontario forced Premier Doug Ford to rescind legislation affecting CUPE and OPSEU education support staff who struck for jobs and justice. What can labour learn from this?
Inside unions, members’ right to debate and decide policy is limited; in the NDP it is eviscerated. Appointed vetting committees have the power to block contenders for NDP leadership and to stop parliamentary candidates on nakedly political grounds. The party controllers can decide whether a member is fully in line with NDP “values” and is sufficiently obedient to a slough of ever-evolving rules.
Sadly, unions and the NDP barely lift a finger to demand justice for victims of political persecution. One is veteran paramedic Katherine Grzejszczak, fired in Vaughan on June 20 for criticizing the Israeli bombing of Gaza. Another is CUPE member Ty Liebert who was convicted for protesting at a fund-raising event for pro-Zionist MP Chrystia Freeland and now is event restricted.
Washington’s trade war persists. Sadly, the only response considered by Canadian officials is the counter-tariff, and in the case of Doug Ford the purchase of expensive TV ads that extol Ronald Reagan. No consideration is given to potential protests, including strike action by workers on both sides of the border who are harmed by protectionist tariffs. The patriotic framing of the issue by capitalist politicians is designed to evoke support for ‘sacrifice’, social expenditure cutbacks, and so-called ‘nation building’ mega-projects that will enrich the very rich and harm the vast majority of workers and consumers. It is the framework of the latest federal Liberal budget.
Desperately needed is a socialist alternative. What would it look like? It would: Cancel plans to quadruple Canada’s military spending. Reject Trump’s “Golden Dome” scheme to put the first missiles into space. Cancel Canada’s planned purchase of F-35 bomber jets and new attack submarines. End the ramp up of border militarization and deportation of migrants from our communities. It would:
- Make bold investments in housing, food, healthcare, transit, education, childcare, arts, and good jobs. Reverse plans to slash 15% of public spending and to enact massive layoffs and job cuts.
- Tax mega-corporations, the ultra-rich, and the fossil fuel sector and end all corporate handouts and subsidies.
- Fund a just transition to 100% renewable energy and end all investment in fossil fuels. Invest in a Youth Climate Corps, a Workers’ Power Grid to enable electrification and the scale-up of renewables, and find climate solutions for the global south.
- Fund Indigenous housing, languages, land-based economies, and climate solutions. No development or extraction without free, prior and informed consent.
Socialists refuse to condone the Canadian government passing a budget that guts our public services, attacks migrants, exploits Indigenous lands, fuels climate collapse, ramps up war and militarism, and allows Canada’s richest corporations to hoard wealth while ordinary people suffer. Naturally, the socialist agenda needed is fully consistent with the Yves Engler for NDP Leader Campaign policy platform. Currently, the Campaign is reaching a turning point. On November 10, Yves will submit the application for leader contestant status and undergo the vetting process. Despite having 1,000 nominators, 1,000 volunteers and over $85,000 in the bank for weeks, the submission of the application was deliberately delayed. Why the delay? It was designed to gather enough momentum to overcome obstruction by the non-elected NDP vetting committee. Just as NDP officials have blocked many pro-Palestinian candidates at the federal and provincial levels over the years, including Rana Zaman in Nova Scotia and Sarah Jama in Hamilton, Ontario. Thus, there is reason to suspect that the party top brass will be inclined to block Yves. So, from the beginning, we got ready for a fight for democracy in the NDP and affiliated unions. Whether we win or lose that specific struggle, the Yves for Leader Campaign will continue to March 29, 2026. That is the day the ranked-ballot vote on party leader will be conducted electronically across the country, and the results of the vote will be reported at the NDP federal convention in Winnipeg.
If Yves is undemocratically excluded from the race, the campaign will continue as a protest movement. Without skipping a beat, we would seek to have the exclusion reversed as we maintain the fight for socialist policies. Recall that Dimitria Lascaris was able to force the Green Party to re-admit him to its leadership race in 2020, which Dimitri nearly won. Whether our campaign operates with formal NDP recognition, or is forced to function outside the realm of official certification, one thing is certain. We have tapped a mass base that yearns for radical change. It needs to be organized, educated and led. The status quo is over!